Expand Medicaid Now
I expect our elected Representatives to represent me. —Us.
I know there are extremely difficult decisions requiring compromise, and with compromise, it’s possible for both sides to come out feeling short changed. Sure. I get it.
But is it too much to ask our elected reps to act in good faith, in order to govern and legislate for the good of the people?
I guess it is for Rep. Mike Dodson, who cannot help but talk out of both sides of his mouth.
The following clip, recorded at the League of Women Voters forum in Manhattan on April 2, 2022, shows Mr. Dodson telling the audience he must cave to the pressure of outside organizations.
“The dynamics of politics, uh, the Republican National Committee, the Republican Kansas Committee, um, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce all exert pressure. ”
That’s a downright terrible answer, Rep. Dodson. Even while acknowledging the overwhelming support for Medicaid expansion, he sits there portraying himself as blameless and helpless.
If you sat in this audience, you’d be led to believe that a vote to expand Medicaid never came up because leadership and committee chairs wouldn’t let a vote go to the floor.
Here, listen again. This time a shorter clip:
Did you hear him fall back on the excuse that if you want Medicaid, it will need to be done via a referendum or through a change in Republican party leadership? Here are his words typed out for you:
“If that’s what everybody wants, then you’re gonna have to have a referendum. Because until you change committee heads or leadership up there, it’s not going to come through.”
Do you know what he’s not telling you? That a vote for Medicaid expansion indeed came to the floor during the 2022 legislative session.
Yes. Rep. Henry Helgerston introduced an amendment to SB 267 (an appropriations bill) that would’ve saved Kansas $68 million by expanding Medicaid.
And Mike Dodson voted NO.
He wants to make it sound like it was never possible to vote for Medicaid expansion.
NOT TRUE.
He’d prefer to kick the can down the road to a referendum, thereby spending millions of dollars in election costs and of course, the multi-million dollar sub-economy created by lawyers, lobbyists, and advertisers in battling out the issue.
…instead of doing his job and voting YES on what an overwhelming majority of Kansans have already said they wanted.
I mean, even by his own words, he acknowledges the “overwhelming support for Medicaid expansion.”
What’s his excuse for not doing his job? - Oh, that’s right…it’s the pressures of outside special interest groups.
Glad to know we matter, Mr. Dodson. Thanks.
We deserve better.
Facts on Medicaid expansion, according to the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas:
Since January 1, 2014, Kansas has forfeited $5.79 billion from the federal government
It costs Kansas $68 million in FY2023 to not expand
Expansion would give 150,000 hardworking Kansans access to health care
About 7,400 military vets and their families would gain access to health care
Expansion would create 23,000 new jobs and generate extensive tax revenue
Expansion would keep struggling hospitals open; currently 2/3 of rural hospitals in Kansas face closure